Public perception of dairy, and agriculture in general, is extremely important to continuing production of food in this country. Animal welfare in particular, has become an area of great concern, and although all farmers strive to take excellent care of their animals, they are sometimes perceived by the non-farming community as not concerned with the health and well-being of production animals.

Several decisions are made daily on a dairy farm. Some involve cow and labor management, others address crop and business concerns and there are a host of others in between. Unfortunately, dairy producers do not always have enough information to make the best decisions for current circumstances. One could argue time constraints significantly hamper the ability to make profitable decisions all the time, noted Victor E. Cabrera, University of Wisconsin-Madison/Extension dairy systems management specialist.

Calf rearing involves many processes. Caring for newborn calves, managing colostrum, feeding, dehorning preweaned calves are all examples. Each process could have a protocol – a written description of the process. Each protocol consists of steps in the order in which they should be done. And each step describes an action – a clear description including criteria that define the action in measurable terms.

As spring fever hits on these nice, sunny days, it is a good time to do a safety scan of your farm to be sure when you hit the fields you and your workforce are working in as safe an environment as possible. I came across this simple acronym awhile back that may be a good way to organize your safety efforts.

Cowboys are nothing if not ingenious. It takes that sort of out-of-the-box mentality to allow them to solve the myriad of problems that arise when you combine horse, cow and rope! In the northeastern Montana country, Jim and Norvell (aliases) were backtracking one fall after the gather. By noon they cut the fresh sign of a bull.

The work of research and experimentation is important for production agriculture. Advances made arise from discovering new methods, greater efficiencies and solving problems related to constraints. In this article, I write of our efforts at renovating a field station so farmers can increase crop yields and improve their families’ quality of life.

I’ve been speaking to a lot of organizations around the country and the one thing I keep hearing from leaders and employees is that complaining is at an all-time high. I’m not surprised. There are two main reasons why we complain. • We complain because we feel powerless. • We complain because it’s a habit.

New Hire Jeffrey J Sebold Marshfield, Wisconsin jjsebold@hotmail.com Senior Business Manager, J&D Manufacturing

New hire Neil Michael DVM Madison, Wisconsin nmichael@vitaplus.com Director of Dairy Initiatives, Vita Plus